This month in the Philippines has been absolutely amazing,
but very difficult in a lot of ways. I’ve had the privilege of being surrounded
by some of the most beautiful children I have ever seen; some of the nicest,
most giving people; and tons of injustice. God’s really had to show me a lot
this month about hating the sin, but not the person, which especially when it
comes to children is hard for me to grasp.
Throughout
the month, there were specific ministries that we were each involved in, but
most of our time was spent hanging out with kids on the street and from the
orphanage. In doing this, not only did I get to play with the kids, but I got
to learn about their lives and their families. Some of the kids come from
amazing families. They literally have nothing, but the little bit they do have
they are more than happy to share. One family that has 5 kids even rented a
karaoke machine and through a party for a group of about 10 of us. Along with
the karaoke machine, they also bought two 1Liter bottles of coke, and 2 small
bags of chips. That might not sound like much, but that family probably had to
sacrifice for an entire week, and they were just doing it to bless us. The 5 kids in this family have 2 parents
that love them and work hard to provide for them. They might not have any
material possessions, but they are such a joyful family. On the reverse side
though, many of the kids have such happy stories, and these are the stories I
struggled with.
Many
of the kids come from families that have way more kids than they can provide
for, and their parents are more than willing to give you their children. There
is one little 4 month old that I got very attached to. She is the youngest of 9
children, and the mother and all the siblings offered to let me take her many
times. There are also 2 little boys I got close to this month whose mom left
them, their dad leaves for work before 5am and doesn’t get home until around
midnight, so they are left to be cared for during the day by their aunt and
uncle. However, their aunt and uncle don’t really like this responsibility, so
they often are in the same clothes for days at a time, they have no
supervision, and are very rarely fed, so they climb trees to get mangos that
they share and eat whether they are ripe or not. Did I mention that these 2
little boys are 4 and 7 years old, and pretty much living on their own.
We
met tons of kids with stories just like this. Stories of kids being prostituted
out to make a little bit of money. Kids who get dropped off on street corners
to beg. Other kids who are just found abandoned. One little girl that some
people on my team got to hang out with, is a little girl who is 11 and is
blind. She lives in a house by herself because she has been abandoned and
neighbors feed her when they can.
These
are just a few of the stories I encountered this month. There are hundreds more
just like them, just in the one little community I lived in. What was hard for
me to grasp, was how any of this could ever be viewed as ok. Many of these
parents who offer to let me have their kids, or who use their kids to earn
money love their kids very much. So how is it that they think it is ok? I still
don’t know the answer to that. I have never been in positions like them, and I
have no idea what goes through their minds to justify their actions. What I do
know is it is not my place to judge them. I can hate what they have done, but
my job is to forgive them and do any little bit I can to help them. And that is
something that is very hard for me to except. When I look at one of my little
basketball girls, all I can see her being stuck outside to go “earn” money. She
is one of the most beautiful children I have ever seen, and it breaks my heart
every time I look at her, and for the first 2 weeks we were in the Philippines,
I refused to go to her house because I didn’t want to meet the family that was
capable of doing something that terrible. But, eventually I sucked it up and
went to her house, and found a family that I love, and who despite their
actions love their kids. I don’t understand it, but that doesn’t even matter
because that is not what God has called me to do.
